IMAGE OF SURREALISM…

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

PIOTR GŁOWACKI

IMAGE OF SURREALISM… Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

Image of Surrealizm...

In the 20s of the XXth century Europe is flooded by class, racial and national demagogy. This is a moment when the patterns of dictatorial countries are shaped. Social mix begins to precipitate in a binary paradigm of totalitarianism.

PIOTR GŁOWACKI In art, a reaction to the first avant-garde (fauvism, cubism, futurism, abstract expressionism, suprematism, constructivism, neoplasticism etc.) from first and second decades of the XXth century takes place. Now some other streams in forms of metaphysical painting (Pittura metafisica), New objectivity (Magical realism), Surrealism and in a form of often thoroughly individual events (Chagall or De Chirico) are gaining importance. A return to classicism in imaging, among others, in these

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Master of History of Art at the Jagiellonian Univeristy, 2005.

Doctoral candidate at the Jan Długosz University in Częstochowa. Critic, journalist.

Manager of Visual Arts' Exhibitions. Ocassionally, concert organiser and author of quasi-prose.

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

times’ works of Piccaso and in a wide wave formed by Art deco (Łępicka) and Ecole de Paris (Modigliani) can also be observed. Generally, in opposition to avant-gardism, these trends operate with motives that are depicting or resembling elements of reality; in other words, with mimetic motives imitating them. These trends are independent to art that is involved in the political – in fact, anti-utopian - ideology of social progress, as in the Soviet Union, practically since the October Revolution; and a racial superiority in the 30s in the Third Reich. On the other hand, they are not lack for sharp criticism of political and social conformism. However, the main and special point is that magical realism was focusing on the human condition, declass and degradation in terms of a capitalist callousness. New objectivity and surrealism are a creative response to a thoroughly poetic and painfully mysterious figurative phenomenon of Pittura metafisica.

Therefore, visual culture flows in currents of avant-garde, classic and outsider-ahistorical-local art. Socialist realism and nazirealism will be presented in the 30s. The most supportive and attractive arts - such as surrealism which reflects the confusion of concepts and ideological attitudes - become more important in culture and society. Generally speaking, it reveals an interest in problems of social relations, however, taking towards them an attitude marked by rebellion, which has its base in opposition to the taboo. It is more interested in matters of altered states of a self, including sleep.

Surrealism and, earlier, Dadaism are fully international art movements.

Dadaism emerged during the World War I (1915) and lasted till the rise of surrealism. It is about a dynamics of simultaneous actions in many European cities. After the World War II, as the attitude towards art changes, it has moved to the phase of neodadaism.

Paris, like never before, becomes an alchemical melting pot of arts news of an international, cosmopolitan crowd of artists, coming here from everywhere; being a jealous key of focus in eyes of American modernists who were also present there (art dealers, intellectualists, artists). That was supposed to result in taking a leading role in the visual arts by New York City after the World War II.

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

The exhibition of Dadaists in 1916 was attended by Ernst, Delaunay, de Chirico, Picasso, Modigliani, Macke, Prampolini, Kandinsky, Klee, Kokoschka, Marc, Feininger. Dadaism was formed by two streams: destructive and constructive ones. Many Dadaists, including Max Ernst and Man Ray, moved naturally to the formation of Surrealists.

The first Surrealist exhibition was held in 1925 and Arp, de Chirico, Ernst, Klee, Man Ray, Masson, Miro, Picasso and Roy took part in it.

And in 1938 in Paris 70 artists from 14 countries, including Duchamp, Magritte, Tanguy, Giacometti, Dali, Delvaux, Nash, Matt, Toyen (Maria Cerminova), Pallen, Seligmann, Dominguez, Brauner and Bellemer, participated in the exhibition in Galerie de Beaux-Arts. During the World War II surrealists were active in the United States by organizing an exhibition in New York in 1942.

Supporters of the new current in the visual arts grouped around terms like "internal model", "pure psychic automatism", "automatic writing" (Breton), or "poetic reality" as a result of a combination of two realities (Reverdy). This new trend consisted of artists that used both representational (figurative) and abstract languages in art. "The figurative direction was represented by Dali, Magritte and Delvaux. They derove from the traditional painting; they were using very traditional technique, the one of Ingres epigones’ style, which was not even applied by academic painting at that time. The contrast between an illusionist playback of particular subject and their unusual juxtaposition reinforces the impression of strangeness, mystery and uniqueness. Representation of surrealism to the world of abstract art is a romantic form of abstraction on advantages of elements of the fantastic wonder, a kind of psychogram. It's also a magical sign that expresses states of consciousness and inner reality. Klee, Miro and Paalen belonged to it."

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Ernst practiced both representational and abstract painting.

In the same - rich with events – 1924, when Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, André Breton, the pope of Surrealists, gets weary by irrational excesses of Dadaists and publishes his Manifesto of Surrealism! At the same time the “headquarter” of The Bureau of Surrealist Research is formed; the 1

A. Kotula, P. Krakowski, Malarstwo rzeźba architektura. Wybrane zagadnienia plastyki współczesnej, Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa 1981.

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

surrealists in different ways (flyers, brochures, protests, provocations) are opposing to family, state, religion.

Breton published “Second Manifesto of Surrealism" in 1930. In the belief of coryphaeus and a surrealism mentor, not only with the doctrinaire ambitions, but also with the dictatorial ones (for example, he was excluding others from the group). increased trend which reads as follows: "The simplest Surrealist act is to go out into the street with the handguns and randomly shoot the crowd.” 2 This is the citation from the manifesto. Surrealist movement was constantly gaining power.

Nowadays it also evolves a form of fantasy art, but it is also a commonly inoculated way of sensitivity, liberty of association and imagination, freedom of design within an image or a photo composition.

Let’s consider the internationality (cosmopolitanism) of Surrealist movement. It should be remembered that Breton himself was a prose writer ("Soluble fish"), but he was also the author of interesting pieces of artwork which were the result of search of new technologies within a surreal exploration.

Breton took title surrealism from Appollinaire. Let’s examine, therefore, a written source to understand a discussed direction, thus, exceptions of the first Manifesto of Surrealism: "I could spend my life encouraging fools to confidences. These are people of unimpeachable integrity, whose naiveté can be compared only with mine. To discover America, Columbus should have had to set out with a boatload of madmen. It is not the fear of madness that will obliges us to leave the flag of imagination furled.

We have to prosecute a realistic attitude, as we did with materialistic one. If you cannot feel, you should keep silence... it is managed to banish every search for truth incompatible with accepted norm. I believe that these two seemingly contradictory states, like dream and reality, in future will melt into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may say so.

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A. Breton, Drugi manifest surrealizmu. Fragmenty, 1930. Tłum. Adam Ważyk, http://archiwa-przyszlosci.bzzz.net/tlumaczenia/2_manifest_surrealizmu.html

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

The mere word “freedom” is the only one that still excites me. I deem it capable of indefinitely sustaining the old human fanaticism. It, doubtlessly, satisfies my only legitimate aspiration.

Among all the many misfortunes to which we are heir, it is only fair to admit that we are allowed the greatest degree of freedom of thought. It is up to us not to misuse it. To reduce the imagination to a state of slavery – even though it would mean the elimination of what is commonly called happiness – is to betray all sense of absolute justice within oneself.

Imagination alone offers me some intimation of what can be, and this is enough to remove to some slight degree the terrible injunction; enough, too, to allow me to devote myself to it without fear of making a mistake (as though it were possible to make a bigger mistake). Where does it begin to turn bad, and where does the mind’s stability cease? For the mind, is the possibility of erring not rather the contingency of good?

And, indeed, hallucinations, illusions, etc., are not a source of trifling pleasure.

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Surrealist form refers in such a decisive manner to the world of recognizable figures and objects for the first time since the beginning of the XX century - since the mentioned avant-garde movements. This technique of painting is native for the academic painting. However, the content speaks of fear, cleavage and mystery of reality, seemingly taken from a dream; of distinct but illusory reality. We, for sure, cannot continue to receive this illustrated world as an identical with the commonly perceived one. These images can be read in many different ways. Sure, some perceive them as playing elements of the world of art full of jokes and imagination. Others see them as an impossible to recognize expression of concern in the world, where they see themselves as spectators. They are an evidence of a fundamental change - a breakthrough. Surrealists, unlike avant-garde artists, intrigue with a clash of domestication (known motives) with new dimensions and literary, cognitive and shaded contexts. Of course, academism was not allowing such a freedom of composition, keeping it in the divisions that strive for excellence and in sophisticated, but realistically correct structure.

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http://exquisitecorpse.com/Manifesto_of_Surrealism.pdf

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

Max Ernst (Bruehl 1891-Paris 1976) was an artist of German origins. He studied philosophy, psychiatry and the history of art in the years 19091911. He explained the term of collage: "I am inclined to see in a collage an exploitation of a random meeting on the surface of misunderstanding of two distant realities (here he paraphrases and generalizes the famous phrase of Lautreamont): an accidental meeting of umbrella and sewing machine on the operating table is beautiful." 4 In summer 1925, Ernst invented a new technique of frottage (rubbing) and then grattage (scratching).

Max Ernst, Castor and Pollution, Circle (powdered sugar or castor oil) and contamination, 1923 http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/max-ernst/castor-andpollution-1923

Title of the sample picture Castor and Pollution is ambiguous. It already indicates the uncertainty of semantic context. We see a dual, divided portrait of the two profiles, as it is commonly said, in three-quarters, in other words, showing the torso as well. The character is immersed in a mysterious device. It has a windmill on the top and is like a destroyed finial. We can only guess the identity of the subject. Is it something of a small submarine kind?

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E. Grabska Elżbieta, H. Morawska, Selecting and design, Artists on Art. From van Gogh to Picasso. The Polish Scientific Publishers, Warsaw, 1977

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CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism‌

"Turtle" as illustrated in 1916 http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_okr% C4% 99T% C3% B3w_podwodnych

Identification is rather impossible. Nothing is clear. The man sits in the device and runs the sea. On the horizon a strange rolling, soft waves, and rocky coast are seen. On the right side there is the circular form of cloud in the sky, and scratched cloud in shape of an invented saucer beneath.

We can see both profiles - left and right ones. The face seems to be blind, collapsed into an autistic state. It is listless, with a silent expression. The figure holds right-hand index finger in the mouth. This applies to the both profiles.

The colors are bright. Unitary yellow sky and some red and metallic colors of the devise appear. Smooth painting technique, that creates a uniform image surface, has sources in the traditional academic painting.

This picture has almost dogmatic, if not an orthodox presentation. It shows ideological assumptions of surrealism due to Breton Manifestos and attitude of his followers. We are dealing here with a rich, free and amazing imagination. There is no "ferocious prohibition"; and "freedom of thought" is generously dispensed. Author surrendered to imagination without fear of confusion. Because "the possibility of going astray is www.CyberEmpathy.com

CYBEREmpathy ISSUE 3/2013 Soluble Fish Piotr Głowacki, Image of surrealism…

rather a beneficial spiritual possibility." You can find an echo of these fools that are discovering America. Two-profile split form tells about it, and it is a metaphor of split personality. The figure can be interpreted according to Freud, but also as a survivor, someone who finds his alter ego. In psychology, they call it Positive Disintegration, and it means the process of re-merging, learning and maturing of personality.

Another interpretation, that concerns a sea adventure, is also thrilling; it compels narrative perspective with animation possibilities of heroic adventures and subjects character with extreme trials. The reason is to break away from the spirit killing routine of usual boundless days. We are not sure whether it was dream or reality, so we sense that this may be the state of surrealism, combining them as postulated Breton.

Suggestiveness of fantasy life adventure, played by Ernst’s forms of creation, reflects the complex nature of "bliss hallucinations and illusions". Its character is probably inconsistent because of its alienation and transience. Unless the image has very attractive and fantastic poetic tone and atmosphere straight from the crystal vivid dream. And in dreams there is nothing to overcome. Breton wanted surrealism and art to be treated as a way of being. And so it happened...

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